6.  The applicant was born in 1973 and lives in Chişinău.
7.  On 26 June 2001 the applicant was acquitted of rape by the Râşcani District Court. The District Court examined the parties’ statements, witnesses’ declarations and medical reports. It found, in particular, that the applicant had not had sexual intercourse with the victim without the latter’s consent, since on numerous occasions the victim could have refused intercourse with the applicant and could have alerted a police patrol which had stopped them on the way to the applicant’s apartment. The victim could also have alerted the applicant’s flatmates, who had been in the apartment during the alleged rape, as well as other persons. The District Court also found that the medical reports did not provide a clear answer to the question as to whether the applicant had had intercourse with the victim.
8.  The prosecutor and the victim appealed. Their appeals merely stated that the verdict of the Râşcani District Court was unlawful and unreasoned.
9.  On 14 August 2001 the Chişinău Regional Court upheld their appeal, quashed the judgment of the Râşcani District Court and found the applicant guilty of rape. The Regional Court found that the victim’s statements, the witnesses’ declarations and the medical reports indicated that there had been forced intercourse with the victim. It found that the victim had been depressed and forcibly taken to the applicant’s apartment. The court sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment. However, the Chişinău Regional Court applied an amnesty law of 10 August 2001 and relieved the applicant from the obligation to serve his sentence. The applicant lodged an appeal in cassation.
10.  By a final judgment of 30 October 2001, relying on section 335/5 § 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) in force at the time (see paragraph 13 below), the Court of Appeal upheld the applicant’s appeal in cassation and quashed the judgment of the Chişinău Regional Court. The Court of Appeal found that the Regional Court had not objectively assessed the evidence and had taken into consideration only the victim’s statements, which appeared to be contradictory and in conflict with other evidence and the circumstances of the case. It also concluded that the victim’s statements that she had been forcibly brought to the applicant’s apartment were contradicted by the witnesses’ declarations. The Court of Appeal concluded that the Râşcani District Court had objectively assessed the evidence and reached the conclusion that the applicant was innocent. It also stated that any doubts should be interpreted in favour of the accused. The Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of the Râşcani District Court of 26 June 2001.
11.  On 20 December 2001 the Deputy Prosecutor General lodged with the Supreme Court of Justice a request for annulment of the judgments of the Râşcani District Court and the Court of Appeal. He argued that the Râşcani District Court and the Court of Appeal had unlawfully assessed the evidence and asked the Supreme Court to uphold the judgment of the Chişinău Regional Court of 14 August 2001.
12.  On 26 February 2002 the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the Deputy Prosecutor General’s request for annulment, quashed the above-mentioned judgments and upheld the judgment of the Chişinău Regional Court of 14 August 2001. The Supreme Court gave the same reasons for finding the applicant guilty of committing the rape as the Chişinău Regional Court had used in its judgment of 14 August 2001.